Exaggeration in an Age of Trump

Recently, it was Don Meredith, an embattled Senator, who defended himself as he was targeted for his relationship with an underage girl.

Now, we have Harjit Sajjan, our Minister of National Defence, who is defending himself over his claims that he was the brain child of a successful Canadian military operation.

After reading a few articles from CBC, Sun News and the Toronto Star, I had to take a deeper look, So I did what I usually do, dove into the comments section. Comments are an interesting realm for social media in general, as you enter an area of many dangers and both indirect and direct anger.

I find it interesting specifically, that many members of the military are showing disgrace regarding Mr. Sajjans actions. However, I question if partisanship is fueling more outrage than the comments made regarding Operation Medusa?

We are living in an age of Donald Trump, who throws around words, regardless of their meaning or how offensive they may come across as. Can we truly hold against an elected official, something that did not directly offend a cultural or religious group and with whom apologized for his actions?

Not too long ago, people were commenting on how bad ass Sajjan was, regarding his military service, which does include 3 tours in the Middle East and his overall support for the Canadian military.

Harjit Sajjan giving good advice, but not taking it.

While Minister Sajjan made a critical political mistake, that will no doubt affect his reelection chances, he continues to support our military and that I would argue is more important. He has opened a lot of kinks in his armour, which will give opposition candidates a lot of ammunition on his character, but for him to lose his job over something arguably minor that he has fessed up about? I do not agree with that, even though I do not support Trudeau's Liberal administration, so I cannot say I am bias in saying so either.

How do you feel regarding the situation? Do you believe his actions in government are now overshadowed by an exaggerated claim regarding his involvement in Operation Medusa?

The Canadian military needs all of the help it can get and I believe that we should hold Minister Sajjan to the truth as was done regarding his comments, but allow him to continue doing his job and boosting the military's image and support as much as possible.

When the next election arrives, both he and Justin Trudeau, will have a lot of work cut out for them to be reelected, so I say it is important to never forget, but let the election be used as a tool to determine if he should stay or go.

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